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The other morning I was packing away the breakfast cereal (as I seem to be the only person in the house that would think to do this task). I walked into the pantry and as I reached to put the box of cereal on the shelf I bumped a bottle of olive oil sending it crashing to the floor, coating the ground of the pantry and every surface knee high in a film of oil and glass splinters.

Of course, this happened on the morning that I had no spare time as I had to rush to school to assist with a craft activity.

Cursing under my breath, I tried to calmly gather up the glass that miraculously managed to fly metres from the impact zone. I grabbed the paper towel and that’s when my acceptance of the job grew. One of my kids had written ‘Have a nice day’ on the edge of the paper roll. This random little kind message was left for whomever may next have need for paper towel. This tiny gesture made my day. It also helped me to put this situation in perspective – whilst it wasn’t a fun task; it also wasn’t the end of the world!

I guess there’s no point wasting energy fuming over a situation that is out of your control. All you can do is accept the task and get on with it.

So with my ‘happy‘ paper towel in hand, I cleaned up the mess before washing down the area with hot soapy water. I even managed to have enough time to jump in and out of a shower before racing to school.

In hindsight I know that I could have spent the morning frustrated by this accident and how it impacted on my day, but instead, my child’s random act of kindness set my mind on a different path. Although our kids are often the source of frustration, in this instance, my child was actually the cure!